On <i>Beyond Organic</i>: Bodycareless - What's in Our Soap?

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According to the FDA, 89 percent of ingredients in mainstream cosmetics haven't been safety tested by an independent agency. Lotions, creams and shampoos, already full of petroleum-based toxins and synthetic chemicals, are now using penetration enhancers to make skin more absorbent.

According to the FDA, 89 percent of ingredients in mainstream cosmetics haven't been safety tested by an independent agency.

Lotions, creams and shampoos, already full of petroleum-based toxins and synthetic chemicals, are now using penetration enhancers to make skin more absorbent.

Unlike food, personal care products aren't subject to government oversight. Big name companies overseen by industry-funded regulators have been slow to respond to research on harmful chemical additives; additives including cancer causing parabens.

But can "all-natural" or organic alternatives be trusted?

Though the organic community is working toward recommendations, the USDA's National Organic Program doesn't yet have its own standards for the $190 million natural and organic bodycare product industry.

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That means a label reading 70 percent organic - following the accepted food percentage guidelines - might be counting ordinary water in that number and still including harmful impurities.

What are the environmental costs of flushing these chemically rich potions down shower and sink drains?

Join host Jerry Kay, publisher of the Environmental News Network, on Wednesday, February 23 as we look into America's bathrooms and medicine cabinets. This week's guests include Ronnie Cummins, Director of the Organic Consumers Association, and Wil Baker, co-founder of Max Green Alchemy.